LucasArts

Well, you could see this coming a mile away. EA was betting the farm on Star Wars: The Old Republic and it didn’t exactly reach the World of Warcraftexpectations that the Redwood Shores company was hoping for. So what does it do now?

It’s time for Plan B. It’s time for The Old Republic to go free-to-play. EA announced today that starting this fall, the Star Wars MMO will have a free-to-play option. It does the following:

1) Gives players access to each of the eight iconic Star Wars character class storylines

2) Lets players hit up to level 50

3) New higher-level game content and features are available through individual purchases or a subscription. That’s the rub.

What other ways does subscription differ from free-to-play? Well, subscribers get unlimited access to all the game features and they get monthly grants of Cartel Coins, a new virtual currency. It sounds like this is a new way for EA to separate in-game credits (ie funds you earn through gameplay) and currency that players buy with real-world money. Cartel coins can be used to purchase in-game items that include customizeable gear and convenience features aka stuff that won’t make the game unbalanced.

It looks like some new content and “advance player features” and are going to be locked for free-to-play players and they can be “unlocked” with Cartel Coins.

On top of that, Star Wars: The Old Republic will go on sale for $14.99 with a one-month subscription free.

So what do you think? Is it enough for you to go back and help Vette? You can check out more on Star Wars: The Old Republic free to play here.

If you can let go of the weighty expectations surrounding it, you can appreciate what Kinect Star Wars really is. It’s not an in-depth, laser-focused Star Wars game where players go through a complex campaign. The upcoming title is more of a jack of all trades, a project that features a Jedi Campaign in addition to several other diversions.

I had a chance to check it out this month at the Xbox 360 Spring Showcase and was surprised with game’s versatility rather than its story mode. The Jedi Campaign features combat where players take on the role of Jedi sent to Kashyyk to fight forces of the Trade Federation. In adventure that takes place after Episode 1 but before the Clone Wars, players will meet some familiar faces such as Yoda and Mace Windu and use gestures to do battle.

They can do moves such as a Force Push or a telekinetically grab trees or rocks and toss them at foes. Players can even kick foes. For those who play Star Wars: The Old Republic, jumping in the air lets players perform a Force Leap attack on foes. If that weren’t enough, there’s also a space flight, a landspeeder level. There’s even boss fights that players can check out as its own separate mode.

Indiana Jones is back in this new game from Lucasarts, but I gotta
tell ya’ – ol’ Indy doesn’t deserve this.

To be sure, there are worse games out there and it does have its
redeeming qualities – Indy actually looks and sounds like Harrison
Ford, the scenery isn’t too shabby and the game makes effective use of
the whip (something that could be easily screwed up and overdone).

And
super bonus – if you collect enough hidden artifacts in the game, you
can unlock Han Solo. Play the game as Han (no Wookie included), but
still use Indy’s whip instead of a blaster. Regrettably, you still fly
an airplane instead of the Millennium Falcon, but you can’t have everything. The
game has decent pacing, and none of the levels are overly hard – you
are always progressing and moving the story along. Which is good,
because in a game like this the last thing you want to do is get
bogged down.

There’s a new Indiana Jones game on the way and guess what? It’s apparently coming sooner than you would think. According to this trailer, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is coming Spring 2009. If that in game footage is indicative of what the game will actually look like on the Wii, I’m pretty excited.

That’s right, a new Star Wars MMO. And it’s called Star Wars: The Old Republic. That’s right, it’s set during the same era as the Knights of the Old Republic series.

The amount of information released is staggering, so here are the highlights:

The story is absolutely massive. According to the developers, there are no simple “Collect X items by killing monsters.” quests, everything has a purpose that advances the story. And on top of that each class has its own complete story…you could play through twice and never see the same quests twice.

While you do choose Jedi or Sith, you aren’t choosing good or evil right away; Jedi aren’t necessarily good and Sith aren’t necessarily bad. There is a stigma to being Sith, but in the KOTOR tradition it’s the decisions you make that change your alignment, not an arbitrary selection at the start of the game.

The game explains the origins of the Sith for those of us who never read the EU novels. The short version is that it was founded by exiled Dark Jedi who subjugated a race called the Sith, intermarried and founded the Jedi’s counterpart. During the game they have an uneasy truce with the Jedi with their own areas, which is an MMO standard.

There will be very little instancing. It won’t be like WoW where everyone has a chance to line up and kill some epic evil, once an epic evil is dead it’s dead. It goes back to the importance of story.

There’s more of course but those are the “Why isn’t this just Galaxies again?” highlights. It really does sound different than previous MMOs in several fundamental ways, it addresses many problems I have with the genre and, given the combined pedigree of LucasArts, BioWare and the Star Wars name, it’s the first real contender to be the next big MMO, following in the steps of Ultima Online, Everquest and World of Warcraft.

In the not-surprising department, NamcoBandai announced that Soulcalibur IV will be getting new downloadable content. As for what it is, it’s nothing that you haven’t played already. Darth Vader and Yoda are now available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Apparently, the magic character exclusivity apparatus has gone down.

Now, players are free to have their dream matchup: Yoda vs. Vader. We all know how this is going to end. Vader is going to punt Yoda all over the map.

Anyway, the DLC will be available Oct. 23. on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network for 400 Microsoft Points and $4.99, respectively.

As you may have heard there’s a little Star Wars game coming out, The Force something-or-other, that the kids have been buzzing about. If you’re interested in it, if that’s your thing, I guess there’s a demo on Xbox Live and PSN.

Ok, fine, I’m ridiculously excited about the existence of a demo of The Force Unleashed but I’m bitter because I can’t play it. My 360 keeps locking up on me but it won’t RRoD, it’s stuck in a limbo between ‘working’ and ‘covered under warranty’ so I’m stuck wishing I could play it but not actually doing so. But you should download it. And tell me how it is so I can live vicariously through you.

Update: I kept my 360 running long enough to finish the demo and, seriously, try this game. Even if you don’t like Star Wars. Try it. You’ll thank me.

During my excursion to LucasArts during GDC (I know, I mention it too much, but it was like going to the chocolate factory without getting shrunk or turning into a blueberry) I was shown gameplay video for LEGO Indiana Jones. The boulder scene specifically settled it in my mind, it was going to be better than LEGO Batman.

Then LucasArts didn’t include that part in the media kit so I couldn’t show you all the wonders that I had seen.

I have one exclusive screenshot of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The rest are more or less the things you’ve seen before. So enjoy this brand new and never-before-seen (except by me and whoever took it) frame of the highly anticipated game. It should hold you over until my extensive preview tomorrow.